Y10 Revision advice from school

[differenttoyou]

Received an email today from school telling parents that a revision assembly had been held this morning for Y10 with advice for how they should study for end of year exams.

Furthermore, in response to questions from parents the following recommendations were issued:

During the half term it is recommended that the DCs should be doing approximately 5 hours of focused revision a day.

Between the holidays and exams the recommendation is for between 2-3 hours revising per evening and 5 hours on a Sunday.

They had stressed the importance of consolidating knowledge as they are now half way through their GCSE courses. The exams in question are internal exams, no external exams are involved.

Would any of your DCs devote this amount of time to study at this point or does this sound like overkill? What has been the advice from your schools?

I think there is a bit of a situation on this thread where posters who's DC are not working hard enough are banding together to reassure each other that it is ok, it is completely normal, etc.

Yes it is normal for teens who are heading to crash and burn, then spend the rest of their lives bemoaning the fact they couldn't get the job they wanted.

As a teacher, I see the whole spectrum. Teens coasting along with parents who think the suggestion that they do an appropriate amount of work is funny.

Teens who work hard and reliably

Teens who work too hard! ( yes, we get those too, sometimes with parents who are pushing them, sometimes with parents who are concerned and trying to make them take breaks)

Of course it is the second group who reach their potential. Not everyone is going to be capable of As, but obviously you want everyone to gt the maximum grades they can, and be in the best position to have choices over the next stage of their lives.

Why would teens be doing anything OTHER THAN revision over half term, it is the most intense period for revision, many schools are open, (often for weaker students, the most motivated will be capable of organising and motivating themselves)

Half of their waking hours is sensible, organised, with a timetable of subjects, targets, breaks and treats. These are the students who will in the end have the power and choices in their adult lives.

It may make you feel safer to gang up and laugh at Begging but she is the one on the money here.

"Why would teens be doing anything OTHER THAN revision over half term,

Because its half term? They might be going on h

"Why would teens be doing anything OTHER THAN revision over half term,

Because its half term? They might be going on holiday or doing something related to a sporting activity or music course. They might be planning days at the beach it with friends or whatever.

My dd has internal year 7 exams the week following half term. I've been send by email her list if revision topics. Ill encourage her to do around half an hour per day.

AElfgifu - I've disagreed with you before, and I probably will keep on.
This is year 10 students, so a whole year before GCSEs. If they were revising for 5 hours a day all half term, I would be very concerned that by next year when they sit the exams they were going to be totally burnt out, stressed out and turned off. also if they have to revise that much, now, how are they going to cope with A'levels which require a lot more independent study and organisation.

BTW I have a child who will get up at 5 to revise, but who is also encourage to do other things.

Revision - as in cramming for exams isn't really about learning. Ideally it should be time just to polish up subjects that have already been learnt and understood. With some re-enforcement of exam technique and practise.

Well said mummytime. There is such thing as balance IMO.

I did that amount when I was in year 10.

Totally agree with what the poster who's a teacher above is saying.

Surely the school also mean 5 hours revision broken down eg 30 mins maths followed by tea break followed by 30 mins English tea break 30 mins of easy subject before lunch etc.

We would never have done much bar revising at May half term from the age of 7. When my dc are older I have to say I'll be encouraging them to have one day off a week to do something nice rather than revise on a Sunday.

AELf, I disagree with you too.

And as for your theory that the schools are holding the revision sessions for weaker students, cobblers! - my ds was invited to science revision to push him from a B to an A (as he is currently borderline) in Chemistry and Biology and from an A to an A* in Physics.

My friend's ds is at a neighbouring school and on target to obtain all A and A* and yet he was invited (and indeed attended) half term revision sessions.

Five hours is too much. If you have to revise for five hours a night then you did not learn the subject properly at the time it was taught.

Year 10 pupils are children. They are 14 and 15 years old. Ds will be spending the half term going to his underwater hockey training (national tournament coming up), going cycling with his friends, going on a camping trip, lazing around at home, doing his little gardening job and attending 3 x 3hour revision sessions at school. I will also ask him to do some extra science revision (as those are the only exams he has coming up) on the days he is not attending the revision classes.

And that will be it!

I think it's what they should do and it would be helpful if they did but mine who are 19 and almost 16, the latter doing GCSEs right now, did the bare minimum in Yr 10. It didn't stop DS pulling down 10As and 2A's and DD is predicted 6A/5A. And there will be tears when the results come out because it will be less than her brother AND she had to work for it. DS did IGCE so no coursework, DD is doing a mixture and providing they have worked for the coursework/controlled assessments and reached predictions for those I think five hours over half term is a bit ridiculous because the exam counts for so little in so many subjects anyway.

When I pulled my finger out for O'Levels I did the bare minimum for LV and UV but pulled my finger out and crammed over half term and the nights before exams and pulled a very respectable collection out of the bag.

The problem today is that this is a one size fits all exam and a great many children are being pushed to unrealistic standards.

Peanut - keep going with your breaking up the day thing. You are on the third 30 minute session at lunch time. Therefore you have another 7 30 minute sessions to fit in before bed!! That does not leave any time for actually getting out of the house and doing something constructive such as a hobby or sport for a good couple of hours....

I did International Baccalaureate at school. (I am from the continent)With that you don't sit exams at age 16. You sit all your subjects (10 minimum), plus dissertation, at the end of Y13 (so when you are nearly 18). And even then we did not study 5 hours a night!

I really, honestly, think it is too much too young! (but then that could be said for the whole of the English education system, really, formal schooling at age 5??, but that is for a whole other thread...)

And what about all those who work like stink for GCSE, pull high grades out the bag but then fade quickly in 6th form when some independent analytical skills are required?

My year 9 child has exams this week, and has been revising 3+ hours per day at the weekend, 1-2 hours per evening on weekdays. It's not excessive. Ie. 2x 45 sessions in morning, afternoon or evening. That still leaves plenty of time for minecraft, xbox, socialising, etc.

I presume the school doesn't mean 5 hours in one solid block. Next year, I'll expect my child to probably revise for two sessions of the day ( ie. am/pm, or am/eve), and relax for the third. Maybe more if they felt they needed extra. I think any information learnt in year 10 will be beneficial for year 11.

if you read my post, Mummytime, I said about half their waking hours during half term should be spent on revision, that is balanced! Plenty of time for other activities, and relaxing.

i am as concerned as anyone when students work too hard, as I've said, however, they really do have to work, it isn't a game, it is n't pretend. it is the foundations of the rest of their lives.

I didn't do that much even for my A-levels (in Holland in 1986)... 3 hours a day during holidays and 2 hours on top of normal school days, that was it. If you've learned your subject well, you should not need that much time. Especially in Yr10 for internal exams, that is just madness.

Learning to be disciplined is not saying to them Right-this is how many hours a day I think you should be revising, is it?

Not every child learns the same way, suggesting that every child in year 10 has to do 5 hours revision is ridiculous, that way suits my dd but ds1 will not learn anything by sitting in front of his notes for a set amount of time.

But yet they are still predicted the same grades in their GCSEs

But if I, as their parent, enforce this 5 hour revision, then they arent learning good habits, they are learning to do what I tell them to do.

They are very well aware of how to revise, the importance of the exams, the resources available.

I provide a quiet place to study, internet access, tea, coffee, a sympathetic ear if they are stressed, a kiss and a cuddle.
I dont need to set them a revision schedule or time how long they revise for.

I agree with Tantrums - Yr 10 and the lead-up to mocks is when they need to discover how much revision they need. As a parent you can suggest, but if you really want them to learn independent study habits, they have to work out for themselves what works and what doesn't. DD1 in Yr8 asks me about revision, but ultimately she sets her own schedule and takes the consequences if it isn't enough. By Yr10 they really should be doing this for themselves. Some children will need 5 hours a day, others won't.

And yes, they will all need to do more for A-levels and University, but where do we draw the line? Do we start them doing 2 hours a day in Yr1 so that they're prepared for lots of homework in secondary? When I was growing up, there was no homework at all in primary - we learned to manage it from Yr7 onwards and that worked fine. Are children these days so much more gormless and helpless that they need everything spelled out for them? That would be sad.

I think the situation for this year 10 cohort will be very different from previous ones.

The exam set up has changed. Most of their end grade in 2015 will come from that terminal exam. They will not already have banked a good score from modules already sat.

Teachers have not taught this way for some time (in most schools) and we don't know how grades will be effected. I would bet my bottom dollar that a lot of students are going to do worse then they would have done under the old system.

IMVHO, the exams in year 10 are the best way to get a large tranche of information into the long term memory, the mocks will be too late as there will be far more to memorise then in previous years in terms of bulk.

They're also the best way for teachers to see how their students are getting on thus far. And the best way for students to assess just where they're placed and what they need to do to get the grade they want.

This is also the time for students to work out which styles of revision suit them.

So all in all, we've taken them seriously in Casa The WordFactory. But they're over, so we're happy!

WordFactory that is more an argument for moving mocks to Yr10 than it is for a blanket 'you must do X hours a day' diktat from a school though. I take your point that good revision habits must now start earlier, but that still does not mean that everyone needs the same length and type of revision - which is a point you also seem to be making.

Of course not everyone will need the same amount of time to revise.

DS is blessed with a great memory, so that helps. DD has to go over things many more times.

Students need to work this out for themselves. But I do think most of them would greatly benefit from taking the year 10 exams seriously. The attitude from students that they 'don't matter' is understandable, but I don't think it's helpful if parents and school collude.

It will just end up with students with far too much ground to cover next year IMVHO and there will be a knock on effect in grades.

Out of interest, DS school has always done terninal exams (iGCSEs) so it is an accepted idea that the year 10 exams are as important as mocks, that bollockings are rolled out for those who under preform. There's no prescriptive diktat of what or how they should revise, but the boys know they can't just piss around. So they don't.

I figure the head in the OP, feels he has to be prescriptive, because, as this thread shows, many parents don't give a shit and are going on past years to suppoort the idea that it's fine!

I suspect that some of the differing views on here might be dependent on when the y10 exams are and the focus of the school.

My DD's exams are the penultimate week of term, so really quite a long way after half term. They are also quite short. e.g. She is doing double science but has one 1 hour science exam only. I'm not inclined to ask her to start revising now for a science exam which may turn out to be only a B2 exam.

And even after half term, we will prioritise any CAs above revision for other subjects. I am expecting her to have 3-5 CAs in the next half term, worth real marks.

She hasn't had much of a break since Christmas, she needs one now (and so do I).

I think the focus on the amount of time spent revising is a red herring. The time needed depends on so many things, what is important is how it helps the student's understanding of the subject, surely. The technique used to revise is key, and again may need to vary depending on the student and subject. A message from the school simply saying "do 5 hrs revision" may be completely unhelpful if students aren't aware of the best way (for them) to revise.

I was lucky, I went to a great secondary where we were shown a variety of techniques from an early age and encouraged to use them in class. It was only when I went to university that I realised not everyone knew "how" to revise and that for some, they could spend 5 hrs revising and retain almost nothing.